Twitter India celebrates Tamil, Malayalam New Year with emoji

For the first time, Twitter on Friday introduced an emoji that celebrates Puthandu (also known as Puthuvarusham) and Vishu -- the New Year celebrations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively, that fall on April 14. The emoji will be active from April 14 at 9 am until April 15, Twitter said in a statement.

The emoji is specifically designed to represent people celebrating Puthandu and Vishu by holding diyas, symbolic of the welcoming of prosperity and happiness during the year. "We're excited to celebrate Puthandu and Vishu with a special Twitter emoji which will be activated through English, Tamil and Malayalam hashtags," said Keya Madhvani-Singh, Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Twitter India.

Various celebrities, including actor Mohanlal will join in the celebrations by wishing people a Happy Puthandu and Vishu.

People can tweet with the hashtags #HappyPuthandu and #HappyVishu -- which will also be available in Tamil and Malayalam languages -- and the emoji will appear.

Twitter in the recent past has created a few emojis to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti and Diwali.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from PTI)

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